Anti-P&O protesters have been moved from the entrance to the Port of Liverpool by police.
Around 40 demonstrators stood in the road leading to the port from around 8am this morning on Wednesday, March 23. The group lined the road outside the port, where P&O has a Liverpool to Dublin service.
They held RMT union flags , signs that read 'resist all P&O job cuts ' and chanted: "Shame on you, P&O." The protest, organised by the RMT union, caused tailbacks of lorries that were heading into the port.
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PA reported that at around 8.35am, police arrived at the scene of the demonstration to move those involved from the road. Demonstrators at the scene say they were warned by police they could be arrested if they did not move.
Darren Ireland, RMT regional organiser, said: "We're trying to get the point across about the way P&O is treating seafarers, it is absolutely shocking."
The protests are in response to P&O Ferries' announcement of 800 redundancies last week. Staff were told the news in a pre-recorded video message on Zoom.
Earlier this week, the RMT union announced the demonstrations would take place across British ports including Liverpool, Hull, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Dover. Described as 'mass demonstrations', they aim to show DP World and the government that public anger is growing over the sacking of 800 P&O staff.
An earlier statement about the demonstrations, released by RMT general secretary Mick Lynch ,said: "The government and the Sultan of Dubai who owns P&O ferries, believe they can bunker down and ignore us. The British public is outraged by this injustice and understand that if these workers are not fully reinstated, the same thing could happen to them in their workplaces.
"Boris Johnson must act in the national interest, introduce emergency legislation to take over the running of P&O, reinstate our people and send a message to other gangster capitalists you are not welcome in this country."
